Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 Review

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 Review

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 Review

The final chapter in the Shattered Grid epic is finally here. In the road to this finale we have seen the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and their successors go to war against the greatest threat they have ever faced in the form of Lord Drakkon. An evil, alternate universe version of Tommy Oliver, Lord Drakkon has made a powerful statement as he looks to become a Power Rangers God by becoming one with the Morphin Grid. In doing so we have seen him take out many different Power Rangers to achieve his ultimate goal. Now with all of the remaining Power Rangers across time and space united can our heroes stop Lord Drakkon if he achieves his dream to become a Power Rangers God? Let’s find out with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1.

Writer: Kyle Higgins

Artists: Daniele Di Nicuolo and Diego Galindo

Inker: Simona Di Gianfelice

Colorists: Walter Baiamonte and Marcelo Costa

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: With Serpentera tearing through their Zords, Jack Landors (Red SPD Ranger) tries to regroup the other Power Rangers. As he does so Sepentera launches another power blast. Jason Scott (Red Mighty Morphin Ranger)tries to see if Billy Cranston (Blue Mighty Morphin Ranger) if he can find any weaknesses in Serpentera but he cannot.

Carter Grayson (Red Lightspeed Ranger) suggests they combine all the remaining Zords into one. Jen Scotts (Pink Time Force Ranger) access the Time Force Archives and finds a combination that works. She tells Kendall Morgan (Purple Dino Charge Ranger), Robert James (Wolf Jungle Fury Ranger), Katherine Hillard (Pink Zeo Ranger) and the Hyperforce Power Rangers to get their Zords ready. Using Jen’s information these Power Rangers combine their Zords to create a brand new Megazord.

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With the new Megazord fighting Serpentera, Jason asks Noah Carver (Blue Megaforce Ranger) for access to the Q-Rex Zord. Noah agrees and Jason goes to pilot the Q-Rex Zord.

Just as Jason nears Drakkon’s tower he tells Lauren Shiba (Red Samurai Ranger) he has feelings for her. Serpentera then breaks free from the new Megazord. Jason acts fast and fires a beam at Drakkon’s tower. Serpentera eats the Q-Rex Zord just as the beam Jason fired destroys Drakkon’s tower. The new Megazord stabs Serpentera from behind.

As Drakkon’s Ranger Sentries lose their powers the others wonder if Jason made it out safely.

Before they can confirm Jason’s whereabouts Drakkon in his new form breaks through the universe and a white light covers the entire area.

Inside Drakkon’s castle the Ranger Slayer (Coinless Kimberly Hart) leads other Power Rangers to help free the captive Power Rangers. As everyone there makes it back to Promethea (also known as Terra Venture) the white light from the battle covers the entire universe.

In another world Drakkon is having dinner with his father (Zordon) and mother (Rita). Drakkon is called away as something is going on in the city.

In the city Jen is piloting the Tigerzord along with the Dragonzord against giant spirit animals. Drakkon flies in and uses his final form powers to defeat the animal spirits attacking the city.

Drakkon then greets a number of reporters, including Zack and Trini. Drakkon assures everyone that as long as he is around there is nothing to worry about.

As he talks Drakkon sees the reflection of Tommy Oliver in one of the cameras. Drakkon cuts the interviews short and flies away.

Drakkon lands at his mansion where he is greeted by Finster (Drakkon’s butler) and Billy (Drakkon’s mechanic). While Finster talks about the events Drakkon was invited to attend he sees Tommy’s reflection on a puddle.

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Drakkon then notices Lauren in the middle of one of her classes and goes to say hello. Drakkon compliments Lauren on being one of the best teachers. Jason asks Drakkon if he could do a demonstration for the class. Before he can do that Finster tells Drakkon that there has been another attack in the city.

In the city Jen struggles against the giant animal spirits. Drakkon flies in to join the fight but is immediately swatted to the ground.

While trying to recover Drakkon notices Tommy’s reflection on the building. Tommy asks Drakkon if he really thought this world would make him home because they both know who Drakkon really is, a God who can’t tune out a hallucination.

Furious, Drakkon uses his powers to take out the giant animal spirits in a powerful show of force that stuns Jen.

While trying to catch his breath Drakkon sees Tommy again. Tommy states that Drakkon was never supposed to have this much power. Tommy then goes on to say that he knows Drakkon saw the multiverse when touching the Green Chaos Crystal years ago. In those vision Drakkon saw how in all the universes Tommy Oliver was always a good person except for the Coinless Universe.

Drakkon states he has overcome Tommy’s weaknesses. Tommy states that what Drakkon saw is what drove him to kill every version of Tommy Oliver in the multiverse and create a place where he was worshipped. Tommy then says that in reality Drakkon is the one that is flawed. Drakkon freaks out and destroys the glass that Tommy appears from.

As Drakkon flies away, someone tells Tommy that the barriers are weak. Tommy uses this to break free from where he was trapped.

While walking home Jason and Lauren are confronted by someone in the shadows.

Elsewhere, as Jen is leaving work she is also confronted by someone.

At their office, while they work on Drakkon’s story Trini and Zack notice someone enter the room.

At his garage Billy is also confronted by someone.

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At a local restaurant Kimberly is getting ready to close up the place. She then notices “Drakkon” walk in and bows in front of her lord. The person touches Kimberly’s forehead. This causes Kimberly to remember everything about her life as a Power Ranger and regains her power.

Now recovered Kimberly is shocked to see Tommy. They tearfully hug. Kimberly then says that she remembers everything including the fake history of the world they are in. Tommy says this world is part of Drakkon reshaping reality.

The other Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Jen appear. Everyone hugs as they are all finally reunited.

At Drakkon’s mansion Finster congratulates Drakkon on successfully saving the city again. Drakkon states that the beasts are growing stronger and that even his mind is turning against him. Finster thinks that Drakkon needs to take a relaxing drive but says he can’t find Billy. Drakkon is surprised by this.

Back at the restaurant, Tommy reveals that the arrow the Ranger Slayer struck him with (happened in Go Go Power Rangers #12) had a shard from the Green Chaos Crystal that Drakkon killed him with. He then reveals that when he was killed by Drakkon his spirit was sent to a place outside space and time where he saw everything that happened, including how Drakkon won.

Tommy then introduces everyone to the Morphin Masters, who helped him reconnect with the Grid. The Morphin Masters admit that they underestimated Drakkon being a threat to the Morphin Grid, which led them to not listen to Zordon’s warnings. They go on to reveal that once Drakkon reached his final form he defeated the Morphin Masters and gained possession of the Heart of a Master, using it to destroy the multiverse and create a new world.

Tommy mentions while Drakkon has the power of a God he is still a man filled with self-hatred. This caused Drakkon’s self-doubt to manifest in the spirit animals that keep showing up. Tommy then says he can’t stop Drakkon alone. Jason and Kimberly stop Tommy and tell him he has never been alone.

Drakkon suddenly shows up and blows up the restaurant. The Power Rangers immediately morph to save themselves. Drakkon easily overwhelms all of the Power Rangers.

Lauren and Jen use the Dragonzord and Tigerzord to knock Drakkon down. Tommy uses this opening to place his hand on the Heart of a Master that Drakkon had on his Dragon Shield.

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Inside the Heart of a Master, Tommy tells Drakkon that they are now at the same power level. Drakkon thinks Tommy made a terrible mistake and quickly takes the advantage in their fight. As Drakkon calls him weak Tommy counters Drakkon’s attack. Tommy that his friends are what make him strong. Tommy states that Drakkon feeling that there is something absent in his life is what makes him the weaker one of the two. Drakkon doesn’t believe it so Tommy knocks him out.

Back in the physical realm, Tommy has claimed the Heart of a Master and Drakkon has lost his powers in the process. The Power Rangers notice that reality is coming apart. Tommy states this was the plan. Drakkon asks why Tommy would take the only reality left and destroy it.

The Morphin Masters open a portal and call everyone to enter it. As the Power Rangers go through the portal Tommy tells Drakkon it is not to late for him as they can help him. Drakkon rebuffs Tommy’s offer and walks away. Tommy enters the portal as Drakkon walks the other direction.

Through the portal the Power Rangers enter the Command Center that the Morphin Masters have created. Lauren wonders why everything isn’t fixed. The Morphin Masters reveal that they only protect the Heart of a Master but that the Power Rangers can rebuild the multiverse to the way it was before.

They all realize that if they put the multiverse to how it was before they’ll forget everything that happened during Drakkon’s attack. The Morphin Masters state that while they can rebuild the multiverse there will be a few unavoidable changes. Everyone is sad about forgetting everything they’ve been through together.

Jason reminds everyone that they were all chosen to be Power Rangers because they put themselves above each other and everything they did absolutely mattered. As he says this Jason smiles at Lauren.

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Jen and Trini tell the Morphin Masters they are ready. Before then Jason tells Lauren he will miss her. At the same time Tommy and Kimberly finally share their first kiss.

All of the Power Rangers then touch the Heart of a Master and reset the multiverse to how it was before Drakkon’s attack. End of issue.

The Good: Kyle Higgins ended the Shattered Grid event the only way it could have possibly concluded: epically. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 properly built off everything that happened to make the finale extremely satisfying. There are a few omissions that keep this ending from being perfect but they do not ruin the overall reading experience.

From the opening of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 Higgins is able to set up a rapid pace to the final issue of this event. There was never a moment to catch your breath in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1. Even when Higgins took time to develop the new world Drakkon created for himself the story never slowed down. Higgins kept the story pushing forward as he made sure as the reader you were paying attention to everything going on each page. That was especially well set-up with all the different character moments we get throughout this issue.

The opening sequence did a great job in setting the tone of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 being all about the characters. As all the remaining Power Rangers were pushed to the brink there was a feeling that the Power Rangers would find a way out of the chaos they were in. Seeing the creation of the new hybrid Megazord was went a long way to establish this as the Power Rangers were able to come up with a plan on the fly to defeat Serpentera.

That sense of hope that the Power Rangers would win made the moments when Serpentera ate the Q-Rex Megazord with Jason Scott piloting it an even more heartbreaking moment. This was a moment that took that hope and made you realize things were about to get worse. The moment also set up Jason’s greater character arc in Shattered Grid as we saw him do what was necessary to destroy Drakkon’s tower. Sacrificing himself showed how much weight Jason put on his shoulder to be the one that led the Power Rangers to victory.

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This sacrifice was made more effective by how it set-up the payoff between Jason and Lauren Shiba. Throughout Shattered Grid Higgins was able to build a strong bond between Jason and Lauren that grew into an attraction. Jason and Lauren confirming their respective feelings for each other was a good way to payoff all the build-up. And even with the universe reset at the end seeing Jason and Lauren confirm their feelings for one another is a good moment for fans who saw these two grow through the course of the story.

With all that was going with in the fight against Serpentera and Drakkon’s tower being taken down to have it all conclude with Drakkon showing up in his final form was fantastic. In a moment when the Power Rangers just achieved their biggest victory against Drakkon it was all taken away by the big villain. Seeing Drakkon in his final form and destroy the multiverse was reminiscent of how Thanos snapped his finger at the end of Infinity War after Thor got a near fatal blow on him. All hope that was gained was taken away by Drakkon in a flash of white light.

This win by Drakkon was a great way to shift the focus of Shattered Grid from the Power Rangers to the villain of the story. After seeing all of the horrible things that Drakkon did it was surprising to see his perfect world being one where he was basically Superman. Higgins immediately established that comparison by putting Zordon and Rita Repulsa in the Pa and Ma Kent roles. Actually seeing Drakkon happy with his “parents” was a great tease for the real motivations behind everything Drakkon did in Shattered Grid.

At the end of the day Drakkon wanted everyone to love him. Even though he caused the Coinless Universe to become a post-apocalyptic setting he did so because he was alone. Due to many factors Drakkon became who he was because he felt everyone was against him and he could only set it right by creating a new world order. When that failed Drakkon wanted to reset everything to be in his favor. That was something that was completely clear by how Higgins wrote Drakkon in the new reality presented in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1.

This new layer to Drakkon’s character showed how fragile he actually is. Having this act as his greatest enemy made the arc Higgins took Drakkon on in this final issue even more interesting. Because even as Drakkon was clearly living his best life the artificial nature of the world he created was still in the back of his mind. The artificial nature of his world made Drakkon’s personal flaws even bigger. Having this flaw manifest in the form of spirit animals that grew stronger was a good way to give us a spin on the Megazord vs Monster fights.

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All of this made the return of Tommy Oliver even more effective. It was actually refreshing to see how Tommy returned to be a major player in Shattered Grid. Given that Drakkon’s original appearance showed him to be a combination of the Green and White Power Rangers powers it was highly expected for Tommy to be return as the White Ranger. Higgins not going this route was a nice surprise that made the events of the Ranger Slayer in Go Go Power Rangers finally be an important part of Shattered Grid.

What made Tommy’s return even better was how he was able to play into the character weakness in Drakkon. His conversations with Drakkon before he broke through the Morphin Grid properly built up his return to being stronger than he was when he was killed. These conversation also worked to drive home how the Power Rangers were going to defeat Drakkon was by exploiting his emotional problems. That made how Tommy actually ended up defeating Drakkon come off as a believable event as Tommy was clearly the more emotionally stable one of the two.

The way Tommy returned also effectively established his connection with the rest of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. With all that went on it was clear that Tommy still felt alone, especially with his time outside of space and time. All of the Power Rangers reminded him of their bond as friends was an effective way to give everyone the strength needed to beat Drakkon.

While it would’ve been great to see all the different Power Rangers in this final fight Higgins was smart to focus on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Jen Scotts and Lauren Shiba. These eight characters were the standouts of the Shattered Grid event. Given the attention they got it was only appropriate for them to be the main players of how Drakkon was defeated.

Focusing on these eight Power Rangers made it so the final few pages could focus on just a few key character relationships rather than getting overwhelmed by how many Power Rangers were on screen. And with how the story kicked off it was great to final see Tommy and Kimberly share their first kiss before everything got reset. It was an especially satisfying moment for Kimberly who got put through the emotional ringer in Shattered Grid. But even with all that she went through Kimberly grew stronger during the course of this story.

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The other character that stood out in this finale was Jen Scotts. Throughout Shattered Grid Higgins gave Jen a lot of small moments as she was the one that knew most about the Power Rangers future. That knowledge was effectively used with how Jen was the one that came up with the ultimate configuration to create a new Megazord with the Zords that were left standing. It made her part in being with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to help reset the universe even more appropriate.

While Drakkon was defeated it Higgins still left the door open for him to return. Since we didn’t actually see Drakkon die he can be left for an even bigger story down the line where maybe he gets redeemed or creates a much different plot. At the same time, given how Drakkon’s story ended it’ll be good for the character to take a break while the Power Rangers creative teams build new threats.

And given that we saw the crew on Promethea separated from everyone it’ll be interesting what happens to them in the upcoming Beyond the Grid. Because as we’ve seen from the promo images the Power Rangers that were on Promethea at the time of Drakkon resetting the universe are going to be elsewhere. What that means for the greater Power Rangers continuity will be interesting to see as they may be the only ones to remember the events involving Drakkon.

Daniele Di Nicuolo and Diego Galindo delivered great artwork throughout Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1. The artwork at the beginning painted the picture of how epic things got as the battle on the Moon reached its final stage. The slight change in style for Drakkon’s world was effective to show the shift in settings. They were able to add to how even in his ideal world Drakkon’s flaws were catching up to him. Additionally, they made the big moments like the new Megazord’s debut and Tommy’s return come of even better thanks to how it was drawn

The Bad: There were a two things that kept Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 from being a perfect ending. The biggest one of them all is the fact that Zordon was never able to get some payoff to all that he sacrificed during Shattered Grid. Especially with how the Morphin Masters were involved in this final issue it would’ve been great if they got to tell Zordon that they were wrong about his warnings. Without Zordon there to accept their apology it made the presence of the Morphin Masters not feel as big.

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It was also odd that the Ranger Slayer didn’t get the chance to play a bigger role in the story. All of the Ranger Slayer’s development happened in Go Go Power Rangers. But since Higgins did have the Ranger Slayer threaten Drakkon in an earlier issue of Shattered Grid it was disappointing that they never shared a scene in these final issues. It felt like a bit of wasted potential since the Ranger Slayer, like the Coinless Trini, was the last surviving member of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from the Coinless Universe.

Overall: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 was a strong way to end the biggest event in Power Rangers history and Kyle Higgins to end his run on this series. Higgins delivered an ending that will leave many fans happy with how he wrapped up the story around Drakkon. The way the Power Rangers stepped up to save the day showed why they were chosen for their roles. If you are a Power Rangers fan and have yet to read Higgins’ run I highly recommend picking up Shattered Grid, and the stories preceding it, up in trade paperback format.